


The Aftermath

by EliteKilljoy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Comfort, Eating Disorder, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 05:06:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6739264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliteKilljoy/pseuds/EliteKilljoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And just like that, everything changed. At that terrible moment, in our hearts we knew home was a pen, humanity cattle. The Colossal Titan reached over the walls as if they were nothing. It kicked in the gate, allowing many, many more to pour in. The District was doomed; everyone knew it, though we still tried to escape.</p><p>After the wall that protected our hometown of Shinganshina was breached by Titans, I watched in horror as one of them ate my mother. There was nothing I could do to save her, but resentment grew nonetheless… Vowing to kill all the Titans, I enlisted in the military, along with my friends.</p><p>From that day forward, I vowed to avenge my mother and destroy all titans.</p><p>That was ten years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, all! This is my first Attack on Titan fanfiction, so try not to judge me too much! I’ve had this idea for awhile now and I definitely ship Ereri waaaay too much, so I thought I would give it a go. Enjoy!
> 
> Note: This story takes place with only the information that I have from season one of the anime, since I haven’t had time to read the manga just yet. Also (I can’t believe I have to say this) I don’t own Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin and this fic may contain spoilers. I did change one thing…Levi is a little closer to Eren’s age. Eren is around thirty and Levi is in his mid forties.

_And just like that, everything changed. At that terrible moment, in our hearts we knew home was a pen, humanity cattle. The Colossal Titan reached over the walls as if they were nothing. It kicked in the gate, allowing many, many more to pour in. The District was doomed; everyone knew it, though we still tried to escape._

_After the wall that protected our hometown of Shinganshina was breached by Titans, I watched in horror as one of them ate my mother. There was nothing I could do to save her, but resentment grew nonetheless… Vowing to kill all the Titans, I enlisted in the military, along with my friends._

_From that day forward, I vowed to avenge my mother and destroy all titans._

_That was ten years ago._

_The Titans were gone. Humanity was safe, at least for a time. Life went on inside the walls. Even with the threat gone, it was decided that humans would remain inside. Humanity couldn’t risk another hit like what they experienced years ago. Disease ravaged the poor parts of the districts, though that was nothing new. All of the dead spread disease when not burned, but many were too afraid that large amounts of fire and smoke would attract unwanted attention. Everybody wanted to believe that they were safe from the Titans, but it was hard after so many years of being afraid. Despite the disease and starvation among the poor, humanity was starting to thrive again. More and more parents were having children to replace those lost and the population was steadily evening out. Things were beginning to look up…_

Eren shot up, soaked through with a cold sweat and panting heavily. He ran a nervous hand through his hair as he recounted the nightmare. It was so real…like it was just yesterday. Shaking his head, the boy of twenty-five stood and stumbled over to his water basin to rinse his face. He glanced down and jumped back immediately, nearly falling back onto his butt. Did he just see..?

Slowly and carefully, Eren made his way back over to the washbasin and cautiously glanced in. His face was as it looked yesterday: messy brown hair, dark sea foam eyes, and day-old stubble that he had forgotten to shave. Blinking rapidly to erase the image from his mind, Eren sunk his hands into the cold water and splashed it on his face. “Just seeing things again, Jaeger,” he assured himself.

The dream had been of the first breach when the Colossal Titan broke through the wall. That had been numerous years ago, but the images still plagued Eren’s mind. Every time he closed his eyes he could see the dead and the dying. Sometimes Eren would dream of his lost friends and sometimes he would dream of his mother. Neither was less painful than the other and both beset him nearly nightly.

Eren set about to his morning routine—routines kept his mind busy after his nightmares. Shaving came first, since he didn’t feel right with stubble. After came getting dressed—today he wore a loose beige shirt under a brown jacket with white pants. Eren, of course, would then put on his key necklace that his father had given him, which was still mysterious in meaning. Plopping on the bed, he pulled his black boots on. The morning schedule was over, but Eren knew that he needed to keep active for a while longer and decided, after much internal debate, to go for a walk.

It was hard for Eren to leave his house at the time. Every little stone in the road reminded him of the terrible events of the past and it pained him to see the people suffering. Most days he stayed in, not allowing anyone else to enter, and isolated himself from others. Of course, this made him socially inept when it came to finally interacting with others. This, of course, added to his desire for seclusion and the cycle continued.

The air was cool and the sun shone brightly from behind the cover of clouds. As he traveled among the buildings, Eren tried his best not to think of the deaths that may have happened there. Birds chirped in a nest nearby. A few kids ran along past him—a boy and girl in the lead with a smaller boy trailing behind, trying to catch up. It reminded him of… A tear slipped from Eren’s eye and the boy angrily wiped it away before continuing on his way.

“Hey! Eren!”

The voice brought Eren out of his trance and he looked around for the voice’s owner. With the crowded street it was almost impossible to pick an individual out. Luckily for Eren, the person who called after him found him before he found them.

Hanji nearly knocked Eren from his feet when she attack-hugged him. She looked like her old self: long brown ponytail, crazy eyes, glasses. Obviously, she acted the same as when Eren had last seen her, too.

“Eren! I haven’t seen you in forever! What have you been up to? How have you been? Did you lose weight? You look…Eren? You look thin.” That took Eren aback. He was used to Hanji’s typical rapid-fire questions, but seriousness was not her thing.

“It’s nothing, Hanji,” he said softly, making an excuse as always. “I’ve always been thin, this is nothing—“

“No, I mean…Eren, you’re _scary_ thin.”

It was true, really, though Eren didn’t see it. The muscle was still there, earned from hard years of training, but other than that he was skin and bones. His face was gaunter than it had ever been and the sockets of his eyes and cheeks sunk in abnormally deep.

Eren was about to make another dumb excuse when Hanji saw the uncomfortable in his eyes. She lay a gentle hand on his arm and spoke softly. “It’s alright, Eren.” After a moment of silence, Hanji continued in her usual cheerful voice, “Let’s go eat! C’mon, my treat!”

There was no time to argue because Eren was pulled away by Hanji in a flash. She simply wouldn’t take no for an answer, Eren tried many times, and ended up dragging him off to a mid-scale tavern.

Once inside and safely seated far from the door—to prevent Eren’s escape—the two of them ordered. Well, Eren tried to order the smallest thing available, but Hanji insisted that he get the steak instead and there was simply no arguing with Hanji.

Conversation passed in which Hanji was the main one talking and Eren pretended to listen. Typical. The food didn’t come fast enough to Eren’s liking, but the arrival shut Hanji up for a little, at least. He liked the crazy woman, sure, but too much time with her and anyone would be wanting away.

The former soldier was eagerly cutting into his steak, wanting to put food into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to participate in the conversation. A small amount of blood oozed onto the plate when the steak was cut. It was everything he could do not to just shovel it into his mouth. Instead, he used proper manners, as he was taught, but the moment the meat hit his tongue he spit it out discreetly into his cloth napkin.

The meat… He hadn’t expected to have such a repulsing thought as he ate, but there he went, having it. When Eren had began to chew, he thought of the Titans. He thought of himself as a Titan. He was…eating someone. Eren pushed his plate back slowly, suddenly repulsed by the thought, and excused himself to go to the restroom.

Once inside, Eren moved to the sink and splashed water on his face yet again. Something about the coldness felt new and refreshing, like he was being reborn. He kept his head down for a long time before looking up and when he did, he immediately regretted it.

This time, he really did fall back onto his rear. The deep eyes, the lengthy and disheveled hair, the elongated ears, the big mouth with lots of teeth, the dead look. All of these things haunted Eren and, looking in the mirror just then, looked real. Cursing himself for falling down, Eren made his way slowly back to his feet and rushed from the bathroom, avoiding eyeing the mirror. He strode straight past Hanji, who was about halfway through her steak, and headed right out of the door. The mad woman’s shouts for him to come back bounced off of Eren as he stepped outside.

The bustling noises of the village hit Eren’s ears hard. They sounded like a million bees buzzing around his head. Putting his hands over his ears, Eren began to run. He was subtly aware of Hanji running after him along with people’s confusion as he passed. Faster than Hanji, Eren reached his house and locked the door once inside before Hanji could force her way in. The young man sunk down, sliding down the inside of the door, and pulled his knees to his chest. After a few minutes of rapid breathing and attempts to relax, Eren stood, shaking. He slowly made his way to his bed, lay down, and covered up. It was only a little past noon, yet Eren felt so tired that he could have slept for years. Ever so slowly, he drifted off.

_Knock, knock._

The knocking on the door was soft, so it took several goes to wake Eren. Eyes opening, Eren debated whether he should answer the door or not. Eren flipped over, pulled the covers over his head, and closed his eyes again.

_Knock, knock._

It was growing louder with each knock, almost as if the knocker was becoming steadily more impatient, which was most likely the case. Eren stuffed his fingers in his ears and…silence. _Finally over_ , he thought. That is until he heard his front door swing open. Quiet, booted steps made their way down Eren’s front hallway and the home’s owner groaned, calling out.

“Go away, Hanji!” No reply.

Just as Eren was about to speak again, his bedroom door opened, making him sit up in confusion. The intruder took one step in, looked around at the mess in the room, then spoke in a low voice, “Hanji asked me to come see you.”

Eren couldn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t seen him since after the war. Why was he here? It couldn’t be…

“Heichou…?”

**Author's Note:**

> Short first chapter, sorry! I wrote this pretty quickly and just wanted to get it posted.


End file.
